Apparatus and method for making twisted wire products using intermittently fed fringe material

ABSTRACT

Two or more wires are passed over wire guides as they are pulled and twisted together by a rotating chuck mounted on a moving carriage. A strip of fringe material is fed between the wires to form bristles. The fringe material passes between two or more fringe material guides which intermittently hold the fringe material and break it to produce a length of twisted wires having segments of fringe material with gaps between them held between the wires. The lengths of twisted wires are then cut at points located within the gaps to make, for example, branches for artificial trees or parts of brushes.

United States Patent 1 Gelardi Nov. 27, 1973 1 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MAKING TWISTED WIRE PRODUCTS USING INTERMITTENTLY FED FRINGE MATERIAL [75] lnventor: Joseph T. Gelardi, Yonkers, NY.

[73 I Assignee: American Technical Industries, Inc.

22 Filed: June 12, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 262,061

[52] US. Cl 140/149, 29/505, 300/2, 300/21 [51] Int. Cl B2lf 7/00 [58] Field of Search 140/149; 29/505; 161/22; 300/2, 21; 57/24 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,812,214 11/1957 Sandelin 300/2 3,254,923 6/1966 Marks et a1 140/149 7/1967 Gelardi 140/149 9/1970 Beurrier 140/149 57 ABSTRACT Two or more wires are passed over wire guides as they are pulled and twisted together by a rotating chuck mounted on a moving carriage. A strip of fringe mate rial is fed between the wires to form bristles. The fringe material passes between two or more fringe material guides which intermittently hold the fringe material and break it to produce a length of twisted wires having segments of fringe material with gaps between them held between the wires. The lengths of twisted wires are then cut at points located within the gaps to make, for example, branches for artificial trees or parts of brushes.

14 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures czar .4

d BRAKE CONT/90L APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MAKING TWISTED WIRE PRODUCTS USING INTERMITTENTLY FED FRINGE MATERIAL BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates to a new and improved apparatus and method for making twist wire products such as artificial branches and parts for brushes, and more particularly it relates to apparatus and methods whereby fringe material is intermittently fed between wires that are twisted together.

It is known to manufacture branches for artificial Christmas trees and other decorative purposes :by feeding a strip of fringe material between two wires'that are being twisted together. The fringe material is a strip of web material that is particularly slit traversely from both edges leaving an unsevered spine extendng along the center of the strip. Fringe material of this type is shown and described in detail in my US Pat. No. 3,548,694 entitled Method and Apparatus for Slitting Web Material issued on Dec. 22, 1970.

According to one previously known technique for making artificial Christmas trees, two wires are constrained by rotatable guides, as they are pulled and twisted by a rotating chuck supported on a carriage that moves on rails. This type of carriage arrangement is shown in US. Pat. No. 3,657,870 for Apparatus for Making Artificial Tree Having Exposed Branch Ends of Web-like Material to T. Marks issued on Apr. 25, 1972 and in U.S. Pat. No. 2,903,299 for Automatic Machine for Making Brushes of T. Marks issued on Sept. 8, 1959. These documents are incorporated by reference herein. The fringe material is inserted between the wires as they are twisted together and continuously unreeled by the motion of the carriage. A long section of twisted wires and fringe material is then cut to make shorter pieces that form individual branches. The branches are inserted in holes that have been drilled in a vertical pole that serves as the trunk of the tree. Before the branches can be inserted in the holes, the fringe material must be stripped away from one end of each branch. This is disadvantageous for two reasons. Firstly, it is wasteful of costly fringe material. Secondly, it requires extra labor and machinery to strip away the unwanted material.

The above considerations also apply to the manufacture of brushes, wherein the end piece of twisted wire that holds the bristles must be inserted in a handle. The present invention is particularly suitable for the manufacture of soft-bristle brushes which can readily be made from a strip of fringe material instead of individual bristles.

For the above reasons, it is desirable to provide a new apparatus and method that will produce pieces of twisted wire having end portions that are free of the fringe material.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION Accordingly to this invention, an apparatus for making twisted wire products comprises two wire guides over which wires can be passed and brought together as they are unreeled, means for pulling the wires across the wire guides and twisting them together, and at least two fringe material guides between which a strip of traversely slit fringe material can pass as it is fed between the wires. A locking means is provided for intermittently causing the fringe material guides to hold the fringe material against movement, thus serving the fringe material. This apparatus produces a length of twisted wires having spaced-apart segments of fringe material held between them. The lengths of twisted wire are cut at locations in the gaps .between the segments to form pieces having end portions which are free of fringe material. These pieces may be used as artificial Christmas tree branches or as parts of brushes without the need to strip away portions of the fringe material.

The wires are pulled and twisted by a rotating chuck mounted on a movable carriage. In a preferred embodiment, a control means is operated by cams which are engaged by a sensing element as the carriage moves, thus operating the locking means at predetermined intervals. In this way, th locking means is made responsive to the movement of the wires.

In a preferred embodiment, a first wire guide is freely rotatable on a first axle, and located between a first pair of fringe material guides which are keyed to the first axle for rotation therewith. A second wire guide is freely rotatable on a second axle between a second pair of fringe material guides which are keyed to the second axle for rotation therewith. The fringe material passes between the fringe material guides of the first and second pairs as it is fed between the wires. The locking means stops the rotation of the first and second axles to break the fringe material at the appropriate times.

Another aspect of the invention is a method for making twisted wire products comprising feeding at least two wires between two wire guides and twisting the wires together after they emerge from the wire guides. A strip of transversely slit fringe material is fed betwen the wires, but is intermittently held against movement with the wires, thus causing the fringe material to break at predetermined intervals. This forms gaps between the segments of fringe material held by the wires. Next, the twisted wires are cut at points located in the gaps to form pieces having end portions there free of fringe material.

The above method and apparatus produce pieces of twisted wire products having bristles formed by fringe material held between the wires. Each piece has an end which is free of fringe material, thus affecting a highly desirable savings in labor and materials.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS An understanding'of additional aspects of the invention can be gained from a consideration of the following detailed description of a representative embodiment of the invention, taken in conjunction with the appended drawings wherein:

FIG. I is a side view of a portion of an apparatus constructed in accordance with this invention;

FIG. 2 is a partially cross-sectional front view of the apparatus of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of a movable carriage arrangement used in combination with the apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a pictorial representation of a strip of fringe material for use with the apparatus of FIGS. 1 through *3; and

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT A portion of an apparatus by which wires and fringe material are brought together to form twisted wire products such as Christmas tree branches and parts of brushes is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. A first disc-shaped wire guide is freely rotatable on a first axle 12 supported by a bearing 13. The first wire guide 10 is located between a first pair of disc-shaped fringe material guides 14 which are also supported by the first shaft 12. The fringe material guides 14 are keyed to the shaft 12, by a key 16, for rotation therewith.

A second shaft 18 is disposed parallel to and below the first shaft 12. A second wire guide 20 is freely rotatable about the second shaft 18 on a bearing 21. The second wire guide 20 is disposed between a second pair of disc-shaped fringe material guides 22 which are keyed to the second shaft 18 for rotation therewith by a key 24. Each of the wire guides 10 and 20 are discshaped and each has a groove 26 about its outer parimeter. These grooves 26 engage two wires 28 (shown in cross-section in FIG. 2) that pass over the guides 10 and 20, respectively, as the wires 28 are wound from supply reels. The wires 28 are brought together at a point approximately midway between the shafts l2 and A rubber O-ring 30 encircles each of the fringe material guides 14 and 22. Each fringe material guide 14 of the first pair engages one of the fringe material guides 22 of the second pair at a point between the two axles 12 and 18. The fringe material, as it is unwound from a supply reel, is held between the rubber O-rings 30 and fed between the wires 28 while all of the guides rotate.

The first wire guide 10 is larger in diameter than the fringe material guides 14 of the first pair. Conversely, the second wire guides 20 is smaller in diameter than the fringe material guides 22 of the second pair. Therefore, the fringe material forms a V-shaped configuration as it passes between the guides. It is urged into this configuration by a V-shaped ramp 32 (shown in FIG. 1) as it is unreeled from a supply drum and approaches the guides 14 and 22. The axles 12 and 18 are supported by a frame 34 which is shown in FIG. 1 but omitted from FIG. 2 to make the drawings more easily understood.

A strip of fringe material suitable for being fed between the fringe material guides 14 and 22 is shown in FIG. 4. A series of closely spaced traverse slits 42 extends from each edge of the strip 40 leaving an unsevered center portion or spine 44. In this embodiment, the slits 42 form an angle of approximately 60 with the center line, but this is, of course, determined by the purpose to be served by the twisted wire product being made.

As shown schematically in FIG. 3, the wires 28, after passing over the wire guides 10 and 20, are engaged by the jaws of a rotatable chuck which is supported by a movable carriage 52. The carriage 52 rides on rails 54 as it moves away from the wire guides 10 and 20. The movement of the carriage 52 pulls the wires 28 over the guides 10 and 20 while the rotation of the chuck 50 twists the wires together with the fringe material held between. After the carriage 52 has reached the position at the farthest extreme of its travel (as shown in broken lines in FIG. 3), a length of twisted wires 28 with fringe material 40 held therebetween is cut and the carriage 52 returns to re-engage the ends of the wires 28 extending from the guides 10 and 20 and repeats the process.

It is desired to feed the fringe material 40 intermittently so that spaced-apart segments of fringe material separated by gaps will be held between the twisted wires 28. To this end, a locking means is provided for preventing rotation of the fringe material guides 14 and 22 while permitting continued rotation of the free wheeling wire guides 10 and 20. This locking means includes a brake 66 which engages a drum 64 on the axle 12. When it is desired to hold the fringe material 40 against movement with the wires 28, a clutch plate 62 is disengaged from the drum 64 in the shaft 12 which is then locked by the action of the brake 66. Preferably, a similar clutch and brake cooperate with the second axle 18. Fringe material 40 which has been withdrawn from its supply reel but not yet engaged by the wires 28 is held between the O-rings 30. Positive retention of the fringe material is facilitated by these O-rings. As the portion of the fringe material held between the twisted wires 28 is pulled away by the movement carriage 52 along the rails 54, the unsevered spine 44 of the fringe material strip 40 is broken, and the wire 28 subsequently pulled over the freewheeling wire guides 10 and 20 is free of fringe material. After enough wire 28 to form a gap of the desired length following the previously fed segment of fringe material 40 has been withdrawn, the brake 66 of the locking means disengages the drum 64 and the clutch plate 62 re-engages the drum 64 thus rotating the axle 28 and feeding another segment of fringe material 40 between the wires 28 as they are twisted.

A length of twisted wires 28 and fringe material 40 thus formed is shown in FIG. 5. It can be seen there that segments of fringe material 40 held between the twisted wires 28 are separated by gaps 70. The length shown in FIG. 5 is cut at locations A within the gaps 70 to form individual pieces suitable for use as, for example, branches of artificial trees. Each piece has one end that is free of fringe material. If it is desired that each piece have two ends that are free of fringe material, the points A should be located toward the centers of the gaps 70 instead of at one end.

To automatically provide segments of fringe material of the desired length with gaps of the desired length between them, a control means is provided which actuates a locking means, including the brake 66, as well as the clutch 62 in response to movement of the wire 28. This is accomplished by sensing the movement of the carriage 52 along a pair of rails 54. For this purpose, a strip of angle iron 71 is positioned parallel to one of the rails 54 as a support. A series of rectangular earns 72 are attached to this angle iron 71 at predetermined intervals. These predetermined intervals are of the same length as the individual segments of fringe material 40 to be held between the twisted wires 28. The earns 72 are of the same length as the gaps 70 to be formed between the segments of fringe material 40. A cam sensing element 74, which forms part of the control means, is carried by the carriage 52. When this sensing element 74 is in contact with a cam 72, an electrical signal is supplied to a servo mechanism 76 which causes the clutch plate 62 to disengage the drum 64 and, simultaneously, causes the brake 66 to engage the drum 64, thus severing the fringe material 40 by stopping the rotation of the fringe material guides 14 and 22 (a similar clutch and brake arrangement controlling the rotation of the axle 18). The wire guides and 20, which are freewheeling on the axles 12 and 18, respectively, are meanwhile permitted to continue their rotation. When the cam sensing element 74 is not in contact with a cam 72, no signal is sent to the servo mechanism 76 which causes the clutch 62 to engage the drum 64 and simultaneously causes the brake 66 to disengage the drum 64, thus feeding another segment of fringe material 40 between the wires 28.

When the fringe material 40 is being fed between the fringe material guides 14 and 22, those guides are driven at the appropriate speed by the axles 12 and 18. To ensure synchronization between the speed at which the fringe material is fed and the speed at which the wires are pulled by the carriage 52, the shafts 12 and 18 are connected, by a drive chain 78 to the same shaft that drives the carriage.

In the particular arrangement shown in detail here, the fringe material 40 is fed so that the bristles separated by the transverse slits 42 point in the direction of movement of the fringe material 40. Therefore, if a length of twisted wire is cut at a point A after the carriage 52 has completed one pass, it will be difficult for the chuck 50 to re-engage the free ends of the wires 28 for the next pass. It is therefore desirable to provide a gap 82 having twice the length of the other gaps 70 wherr the length of wire is to be cut following the completion of a pass by the carriage 52. The length of twisted wire thus formed can be severed at a point B in the center of this gap 82 leaving an end of the twisted wire 28 which is free of fringe material 40 to be engaged by the chuck 50. For this reason, a cam 84 having twice the length of the cams 72 is attached to the angle iron 71 in a position which corresponds to the point at which a length of twisted wire is severed. If the fringe material is fed so that the bristles point away from the direction of movement, the gaps 82 of double length need not be provided.

If the method and apparatus described above is employed, individual pieces of twisted wire having fringe material held between them and having end portions which are free of fringe material are formed. It is not necessary to strip away fringe material from the ends of these pieces to obtain this result. Therefore, a significant savings in material and labor results.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that the embodiment described above is meant to be merely exemplary and that the specific structure of the apparatus and steps of the method are susceptible of modification and variation withiout departing from the spirit and scope of the invention. Therefore, the invention is not deemed to be limited except as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An apparatus for making twisted wire products comprising at least two wire guides over which wires can be passed and brought together, means for pulling the wires across th wire guides and twisting them together, at least two fringe material guide between which a strip of fringe material can pass as it is fed between the wires, and locking means for intermittently causing the fringe material guides to hold the fringe material against movement, thus severing the fringe material, thereby producing a length of twisted wires having segments of fringe material held between the wires and gaps that are free of fringe material between the segments.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the fringe material guides are rotatable and thelocking means causes the fringe material guides to hold the fringe material against movement by stopping the rotation of the fringe material guides.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of O-rings each of which surrounds one of the fringe material guides.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a groove formed about the circumference of each of the wire guides for engaging the wire that passes over that guide.

5. An apparatus for making twisted wire products comprising:

a first pair of rotatable fringe material guides;

a first rotatable wire guide disposed between the fringe material guides of the first pair;

a second pair of rotatable fringe material guides arranged so that each fringe material guide of the second pair engages one fringe guide of the first P a second wire guide disposed between the fringe material guides of the second pair; and

locking means for intermittently locking at least two of the fringe material guides against rotation to hold and sever the fringe material while permitting rotation of the wire guides;

whereby two continuously moving wires can be brought together and twisted while fringe material is intermittently fed between the wires leaving gaps along the' wires which are free of fringe material.

6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the first wire guide is larmer in diameter than the fringe material guides of the first pair and the second wire guide is smaller in diameter than the fringe material guides of the second pair.

7. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising a V- shaped fringe material feeding ramp adjacent to the fringe material guides.

8. The apparatus of claim 5, further comprising a control means for intermittently actuating the locking means at predetermined intervals.

9. An apparatus for making twisted wire products with spaced-apart segments of a traversely slit web of fringe material held between the twisted wires comprismg:

a first pair of fringe material guides keyed to the first axle for rotation therewith;

a first wire guide freely rotatable on the first axle between the fringe material guides of the first pair;

a second axle;

a second pair of fringe material guides keyed to the second axle for rotation therewith arranged so that the fringe material is engaged between the fringe material guides of the first and second pairs;

a second wire guide freely rotatable on the second axle between the fringe material guides of the second pair; and

locking means for intermittently locking at least one of the axles and thereby intermittently locking at least two of the fringe material guides against rotation;

whereby two continuously moving wires can be brought together and twisted while fringe material is intermittently fed between the wires leaving gaps along the wires which are free of fringe material.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising control means for intermittently actuating the locking means.

11. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising movable carriage, a rotatable chuck for twisting and from te guides;

feeding a strip of transversely slit fringe material between the wires as they are twisted together; and

intermittently holding the fringe material being fed between the wires to prevent it from moving with the wires and thus cause the fringe material to break at predetermined intervals, thereby forming gaps in the fringe material; and

cutting the twisted wires at points located in the gaps to form pieces having end portions that are free of fringe material.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising feeding the fringe material between a plurality of rotatable fringe material guides and intermittently locking the guides against rotation to hold and break the fringe material at said predetermined intervals.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 3 774-, 653 Dat d November 27, 1973 Inventor(s) Joseph T. Gelardi It is certified that error appears in the above-identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

IN THE CLAIMS:

Claim 1, column 5, line 58, "th" should have been -the-;.

' line 59, "guide should have been 4-guides--.

Claim 5, column 6, line 20, after "fringe' "should be --material-- Claim 6, column 6, line 33, "larmer should 'heve been --lerger-.

Claim 13, column 8, line 1, "te' should have been --the.

Signed and sealed this 16th day of April 197R.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD ILFLE-TCHERQTR. v 1 C. MARSHALL DANN Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents FORM P0-1050 0- Q USCOMM 0:: 60376 P69 Q U.i. GOVEFNHENF PRINTING GF XCE 195) O-3 6-!3-l 

1. An apparatus for making twisted wire products comprising at least two wire guides over which wires can be passed and brought together, means for pulling the wires across th wire guides and twisting them together, at least two fringe material guide between which a strip of fringe material can pass as it is fed between the wires, and locking means for intermittently causing the fringe material guides to hold the fringe material against movement, thus severing the fringe material, thereby producing a length of twisted wires having segments of fringe material held between the wires and gaps that are free of fringe material between the segments.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the fringe material guides are rotatable and the locking means causes the fringe material guides to hold the fringe material against movement by stopping the rotation of the fringe material guides.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a plurality of O-rings each of which surrounds one of the fringe material guides.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, further comprising a groove formed about the circumference of each of the wire guides for engaging the wire that passes over that guide.
 5. An apparatus for making twisted wire products comprising: a first pair of rotatable fringe material guides; a first rotatable wire guide disposed between the fringe material guides of the first pair; a second pair of rotatable fringe material guides arranged so that each fringe material guide of the second pair engages one fringe guide of the first pair; a second wire guide disposed between the fringe material guides of the second pair; and locking means for intermittently locking at least two of the fringe material guides against rotation to hold and sever the fringe material while permitting rotation of the wire guides; whereby two continuously moving wires can be brought together and twisted while fringe material is intermittently fed between the wires leaving gaps along the wires which are free of fringe material.
 6. The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the first wire guide is larmer in diameter than the fringe material guides of the first pair and the second wire guide is smaller in diameter than the fringe material guides of the second pair.
 7. The apparatus of claim 6, further comprising a V-shaped fringe material feeding ramp adjacent to the fringe material guides.
 8. The apparatus of claim 5, further comprising a control means for intermittently acTuating the locking means at predetermined intervals.
 9. An apparatus for making twisted wire products with spaced-apart segments of a traversely slit web of fringe material held between the twisted wires comprising: a first axle; a first pair of fringe material guides keyed to the first axle for rotation therewith; a first wire guide freely rotatable on the first axle between the fringe material guides of the first pair; a second axle; a second pair of fringe material guides keyed to the second axle for rotation therewith arranged so that the fringe material is engaged between the fringe material guides of the first and second pairs; a second wire guide freely rotatable on the second axle between the fringe material guides of the second pair; and locking means for intermittently locking at least one of the axles and thereby intermittently locking at least two of the fringe material guides against rotation; whereby two continuously moving wires can be brought together and twisted while fringe material is intermittently fed between the wires leaving gaps along the wires which are free of fringe material.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising control means for intermittently actuating the locking means.
 11. The apparatus of claim 9, further comprising movable carriage, a rotatable chuck for twisting and pulling the wires supported by the carriage, and a control means responsive to the movement of the carriage for actuating the locking means.
 12. The apparatus of claim 11, further comprising a series of cams that are successively engaged by the control means as the carriage moves, the position of the cams determining the predetermined interval at which the locking means is actuated.
 13. A method of making twisted wire products comprising: feeding at least two wires between two wire guides and twisting the wires together after they emerge from te guides; feeding a strip of transversely slit fringe material between the wires as they are twisted together; and intermittently holding the fringe material being fed between the wires to prevent it from moving with the wires and thus cause the fringe material to break at predetermined intervals, thereby forming gaps in the fringe material; and cutting the twisted wires at points located in the gaps to form pieces having end portions that are free of fringe material.
 14. The method of claim 13, further comprising feeding the fringe material between a plurality of rotatable fringe material guides and intermittently locking the guides against rotation to hold and break the fringe material at said predetermined intervals. 